Roses Mean Remember
by Crystal Koneko
Summary: Kurama sees Shizuru walking down the street with a rose in hand. Curious as always, he follows and sees a side of her he didn't even know was there. [One Shot]. KuramaxShizuru.


_Disclaimer_: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

_Summary_: Kurama sees Shizuru walking down the street with a rose in hand. Curious as always, he follows and sees a side of her he didn't even know was there. (One Shot). KuramaxShizuru.

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**Roses Mean Remember

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**

Kurama sighed when the final bell rang through the school. It's not that he hated school, quite the contrary, but the fan girls... It was getting out of hand. They became more rabid each passing day. Quickly filing out of his last class of the day, Kurama made it to his locker before his fan club could get to him and put his books in before then making his way out the door and off of school grounds.

He was lucky today, Kurama figured. It wasn't normal for him to make it out of school before some sort of fan got to him. He leisurely walked down the sidewalk through Tokyo, just staring into the buildings he'd passed. His day went extremely slow, as they had been as of late. Koenma hadn't called the Reikai Tantei for a mission in a while. He was sure something would come up soon enough.

_Calm before the storm_.

Kurama's attention was abruptly taken away from the buildings when someone bumped into his chest. He didn't even have time to see who it was before he heard a familiar sounding,"Sorry," and the person was lost in the crowd of people on the sidewalk. He looked behind him and recognized the light brown-haired girl walking down the street. From the corner of his eye he noticed a single rose was clutched tightly in her hand.

_Shizuru._

Kurama wondered what the rose was for as he watched her push her way through the people on the sidewalk. Noticing he was also in a lot of people's ways, he made a quick decision to follow her. It wasn't really like him to tail someone unless they were a demon, but he couldn't fight the curiosity that was overcoming his being seeing how tightly Shizuru held the rose.

He couldn't say they were very close, but Kurama would like to think they were friends. When it came down to it, he cared. He liked to have conversations with her when they were at get togethers at Genkai's, seeing as she seemed to be one of the only ones in their group who could hold up the intelligent half of the conversation for a long time. Sure, Keiko and Hiei could too, but Keiko was always busy with Yusuke and Hiei... well, he was Hiei.

Kurama had always noted she was tough, physically and emotionally. And the way she was carrying herself as she walked down the sidewalk at the moment screamed anything but. He may have even gone as far as to say vulnerable; and that's what really peeked his interest. What could be wrong? She was never one to show any sort of weakness to others unless it had something to do with her brother, who she deeply cared about despite calling him an idiot all the time.

After a few minutes of following Shizuru, he noticed her starting to slow down. She nearly came to a stop and looked over her shoulder stiffly, and Kurama stepped to the side quickly to avoid her gaze. It felt wrong to be hiding from her, but he needed to find out was wrong. It seemed like she was worried somebody she knew would see her, but why? And again, what was the rose for?

Realization quickly started seeping into his mind as he saw her cross the street and enter a sort of secluded part of a large park. Kurama glanced up at the dark gate as he too crossed the road and debated on whether he should keep following her or not. Shizuru deserved privacy where she was going. But he wanted to know who she was visiting. Against his own judgment, he went through the gate and walked down the shadowed path. He could practically hear his human side berating him in his head.

_Nosy Fox._

Kurama came to a stop as he heard Shizuru's voice. He looked into the graveyard to see she was kneeled down in front of two graves. He stood there, not really seeing anywhere else to go and deciding not to hide from her anymore. She sighed and stared up at the slightly gray clouds in the sky.

"Mom... Dad. It's been a while since I visited, I know. Things have been a little busy, I guess. You wouldn't believe it, but Kazuma got into college. I know, I know, it surprised me he even applied. But he's doing really well..."

Kurama felt slightly stupid and almost like a jerk. He hadn't even known their parents were dead. He never asked questions when they were never there when the group came over, he'd always just assumed they were out. And here he was listening in on Shizuru grieve, it just wasn't like him. To make it worse, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He wasn't used to seeing her like this, spilling her heart out to anyone. She must really miss them; he doesn't even know what he'd do if he lost his human mother.

"I get so worried about him sometimes. He's always off fighting demons with his friends... I'm afraid I might lose him too. It was really hard on us when you left; we could only stay with grandpa for so long. I had to forget all about college so I could get a job to pay rent for Kazuma and me, so I guess that's why I push him so hard to do well in school. I don't know... when did everything get so complicated?"

Kurama watched as she leaned back and sat in between the graves, and wrapped her arms around her knees. He felt an odd sensation come over him, he wanted to comfort her. He didn't even know where the thoughts came from. Sure, he always knew she was pretty and they flirted at times, but he never thought he was attracted to her.

_Maybe I am. Who knows._

Shizuru ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "I'm proud of him though... he's got good friends. Funny thing, they're my friends too. First, there's Yusuke. I swear he's just as bad as Kazuma," she laughed a little at that before continuing, "He's definitely a good person to have on your side, he doesn't like to show it but he really does care. Next there's Keiko. Her and Yusuke are so in love, they're perfect each other in my opinion. I think she's the only one who can handle that boy. Hell if he was my boyfriend, I think I'd strangle him. Anyway, she's a good person, cares about everyone."

Kurama shook his head at the thought of those two. She was right; he couldn't see them with anybody else. She was quiet for a little longer, and he found himself wanting to hear about what she had to say about everyone else. In particular, himself.

Shizuru took in a deep breath before going on, "Next there's Botan. She's the slightly crazy one in our group. She's always cheering us up, I wonder if she was the one who took you to Reikai or not... but I don't think I really wanna know. Kazuma used to have a crush on her until he met Yukina. She's very shy, and she's probably the nicest person you'd ever meet. I'm really routing for her and Kazuma. She's got a brother Hiei, who's also part of our little group. He's... short. And a jerk, but he has his good points. Last but not least, there's Kurama."

Kurama was listening even more carefully now. She went silent again, but he knew she'd say something soon. He wondered why she had to think so long, but he was answered soon enough.

"Kurama's smart. And a 'chick-magnet'," He could see the smirk in her demeanor and frowned at her amusement, "He's... complex, I guess you could say, but I won't get into that. He looks sort of feminine, but gorgeous. Sometimes I wonder if he's gay or not."

Kurama's jaw tightened slightly, he really didn't see that coming. At all. Okay, so she thought he was gay? That was a little insulting. He was lucky she thought he was good-looking. He saw her form shaking and thought she was crying until she nearly burst with laughter, "I'm just kidding, Kurama. I knew you were there, so why'd you follow me? That's not like you."

He smiled lightly and walked over to her. He felt slightly honored that she knew he was there and still talked to her parents. Kurama stood behind her while she stared at the two graves, "I suppose I was worried when I saw you after you bumped into me. A little curious, too."

"That was you? Sorry," Shizuru murmured and fingered the rose she still held in her hands.

Kurama stared down at her and answered quietly, "It's alright. You've already apologized, remember?"

"Yeah," was all she said. It was quiet for another few minutes besides the wind rustling the leaves around them. Kurama could tell her eyes were closed and noticed a small tear about to slip from the corner of her eye. He wasn't quite sure what to do; this was Shizuru, she wouldn't want him to feel sorry for her or try and make him feel better. In fact, she'd probably punch him in the face.

"So, you're not going to ask what happened to them?" Shizuru said out of nowhere, looking up at him. She didn't give him anytime to reply before she continued, "It was a while ago. So long ago I'm not sure if Kazuma even remembers what they look like. Sure there's pictures he's seen of them, but it's nothing like they were in person. I'll never forget how pretty my mom was. I always used to tell her how much I wanted to be like and look like her when I grew up," Shizuru smiled lightly and glanced at the grave, "But that would be kind of hard since she had Kazuma's orange hair. I got her eyes though... And I got my dad's hair. I remember how he always used to swing me in his arms when he got home from work..."

"Shizuru," Kurama cut in politely and she looked back up at him, "Are you sure you don't want me to leave?"

She shook her head, "No. Stay. I'm not finished yet, anyway. It was like any other day, they went to work and I was at school. I got up late, so I didn't get to say goodbye before they left for the office; they both worked at a pharmaceutical company. I went home and they weren't there, and Kazuma was at our Aunt's for the week going to some camp, so I was all alone. And I remember staying up all night, wondering where they were and waiting for dinner. I fell asleep on the couch that night, and I woke up to the police knocking on my door. I knew something had happened."

Kurama sat beside her, his legs getting slightly tired from standing. He didn't say anything, only listened as she talked, "They took me to the police station and tried to explain things to me; tried to tell me everything was going to be okay. How could it? My parents had just died. It was a car accident... they were hit straight on by a drunk driver. It was a little early for anyone to be drunk, but that's what happened. The front of my parents' car was pushed into my mother and my father was found fifteen feet away from the wreckage. They died on impact."

Shizuru was lightly shaking by the time she finished talking, and Kurama decided it would be worth a punch to try and make her feel better. He'd never seen her like this and it unnerved him, so it was a selfish move. It was for him too. He put his hand on her back and she leaned into his shoulder, staying quiet. He thought she fit perfectly and felt slightly guilty for thinking it while they were at her parents' graves and she was grieving at the moment. He rubbed circles on her back, slightly awkward at first, but when she made no move to make him stop he relaxed more.

Kurama didn't know how long they stayed like that until Shizuru gently plied herself away from him, placed the rose she'd brought with her in-between the two graves, and stood up. He also stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. She smiled sadly at the two graves, and turned to him, "Kurama, what do roses mean?"

In reply, Kurama lightly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him and leaned down so close that their breath was mixing, "Roses mean," with him still holding her wrist in his hand and their bodies pressed together, he covered her lips with his and finished, "remember."

((The End))

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I really like this. I think I kept them in okay character for the situation. Anyway, I just wanted to get something for these two out. Tell me what you thought! n.n 


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